Impact case study (REF3b) Institution: University of Warwick Unit of Assessment: 29 English Language and Literature Title of case study: Multi-Cultural Shakespeare in Britain 1. Summary of the impact Shakespeare is at the heart of British culture, and the ways in which we stage his plays help define our understanding of ourselves. Tony Howard’s research has highlighted the central role of outstanding Black and Asian actors in shaping and enriching our relationship with those plays. By uncovering the history of these performers in The Robeson Project and Multi-Cultural Shakespeare in Britain, the research describes how Shakespeare has mediated between BME cultures and concepts of national identity and inclusion. It has restored the contribution of Black and Asian actors to the history of British theatre and re-connected contemporary Black and Asian actors with their artistic and cultural heritage. It has stimulated tourism through exhibitions and festivals, and inspired new forms of artistic expression. 2. Underpinning research Embedded in his broader research interests in the social and political contexts of Shakespearean performance, the two projects – The Robeson Project and Multi-Cultural Shakespeare in Britain – explore the use of the classical theatrical repertoire, especially Shakespeare, as a vehicle for ideological debate and for political self-expression. Combined, the research offers a history of Black and Asian actors playing Shakespeare within the turbulent social and political landscape of race relations in the USA and UK, and Cold War politics. In 2008 Professor Tony Howard (1973 – present) was awarded a Creative Fellowship by CAPITAL, a HEFCE-funded collaboration between Warwick University and the Royal Shakespeare Company, to investigate the career of singer, actor and human rights activist Paul Robeson. In 1930, Robeson became the first black actor to play Othello in Britain since 1860. Timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Robeson’s performance of Othello at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1959 – a landmark performance in the history of British theatre – the project both celebrated this milestone and explored the social conflicts surrounding it. During 2008 Howard examined almost 3,000 British and American security surveillance documents (released under the US Freedom of Information Act or by the UK Public Records Office) on Robeson, his wife Eslanda, and his compatriot Sam Wanamaker (who played Iago at Stratford), to reveal the authorities’ response to Robeson’s presence in Britain and the ways in which Robeson’s art was affected by surveillance and suppression. Howard recorded and archived interviews with politicians and supporters who had campaigned for Robeson, actors from the 1959 Othello company and audience members who saw the performance, and members of the Black community – actors, directors, producers from several generations – who have been inspired by his example. The research was published in an article in Shakespeare Bulletin (2010) which focused on the ways in which Robeson made Othello a symbol of race relations in the twentieth century and how his opponents, namely the FBI and MI5, had attempted to write him out of history. The project also resulted in exhibitions, podcasts, multi-media-presentations, a verbatim theatre piece and a radio documentary. Building on his research into Robeson as an important figure in the history of black theatre in Britain, Howard embarked on his current research project, Multicultural Shakespeare in Britain, which maps the history of non-white actors' and directors' growing role in British cultural life over several generations, through an examination of their involvement in Shakespearean performance. Howard is exploring ways in which the changing face of British Shakespearean performance since the 1930s has reflected the emergence of a multicultural society, providing an insight into the evolution of British society since World War II. Following Robeson’s performance of Othello at Stratford in 1959, opportunities for black actors grew in the 1960s. However, integrated opportunities were hard to come by as inclusive casting policies were not adopted by major theatres until the 1980s. As the country’s demographics changed, innovations were introduced and Black and Asian theatre companies were using Shakespeare to address their concerns: postcolonialism, social integration, and fundamentalism. Together these projects represent the reclamation of brilliant but largely marginalised or forgotten artists. 3. References to the research Howard’s most relevant publications include: Page 1 Impact case study (REF3b) ‘Blood on the Bright Young Things: Shakespeare in the Thirties’, in Maggie Gale and Clive Barker (ed.), British Theatre Between the Wars (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp.135- 161. [chapter, edited volume; peer reviewed] ‘Icons and Labourers: Some Political Actresses’, in Maggie Gale and John Stokes (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Actress (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), pp.134- 153. [chapter, edited volume; peer reviewed] ‘Shakespeare and Television Genres: Evolving Forms and Shifting Definitions’, Anthony Guneratne (ed.), Shakespeare and Genre (London: Macmillan, 2011), pp.205-222. [chapter, edited volume; peer reviewed] ‘“My Travail’s History”: Perspectives on the Road to Othello, Stratford 1959’, Shakespeare Bulletin 28.1 (2010): 93-100 [peer reviewed journal article] Evidence of Quality: British Theatre Between the Wars was described as an ‘excellent collection’, Modern Language Review, 98:3 (Jul 2003), 701-2 and was reviewed in Theatre Journal, 54:4 (Dec 2002), 659-661. Research Grants: CAPITAL Fellowship (2008), £48,298 (pro rata). AHRC Standard Research Grant, ‘Multicultural Shakespeare in Britain, 1930-2010’, PI Howard (2012-2015), £609,997 (f.e.c). AHRC peer reviews: ‘An original, important, timely and necessary project, affecting not just theatre and academia but life in the UK at many levels’; ‘A much-needed political history … a very high quality proposal, arising out of an excellent body of work…a project of immense reach and range… This project has the most outputs and greatest dissemination strategy of any AHRC project I have seen.’ 4. Details of the impact By exploring how ethnic minorities have performed, understood and re-interpreted Shakespeare, the research has contributed to a greater understanding of the dramatic social, cultural and demographic changes in twentieth-century Britain. Public beneficiaries include theatre goers, theatre professionals – actors, directors and producers – especially those from the British Black and Asian communities, activists and community groups. Having collaborated at every stage with leading UK multi-ethnic cultural organisations and individuals, the research has preserved and re- presented the multicultural nature of Britain’s theatre history contributing to public discourse about contemporary Britain, multiculturalism and the arts. It has provided stimulus to tourism through exhibitions and festival activities, and has resulted in the creation of new forms of artistic expression. 1. The Robeson Project A Slave’s Son at Stratford To connect theatregoers with the life and legacy of Paul Robeson, Howard created two panel exhibitions. The first A Slave’s Son at Stratford, toured alongside the RSC’s 2009 production of Othello which played in Coventry (30 Jan – 7 Feb; 5,015 audiences); Hackney Borough, London (10-14 Feb; 5,662 audience); Newcastle-upon-Tyne (17-21 Feb; 3,069 audience); Oxford (24-28 Feb) and Liverpool (3-7 Mar). During the rehearsals of Othello, Howard presented the research, including sound tapes of Robeson’s 1944 and 1959 performances to the director and cast. The effect on the production – in which Ghanaian actor, Patrice Naiambana, related his performance to the African diaspora and to Robeson as a crucial model for the black artist – is recorded in John Russell Brown, The Routledge Companion to Actors’ Shakespeare (London: Routledge, 2011), p. 178. To accompany the exhibition, Howard gave multi-media presentations (including sound tapes never heard publicly before) in these theatres as well as at Bristol Old Vic (5 Jun 2009) and Shakespeare’s Globe in London (approx. audience 110). In the cities where, in 1949, Robeson gave concerts under police surveillance, Howard discussed the local police reports and the local authorities’ attempts to control or prevent the event. Many members of Howard’s audience had attended Robeson’s performances in 1959 (and even 1949) and their recollections were recorded and subsequently added to the project’s digital archive, available on the project website. A Slave’s Son at Stratford (augmented with items related to Robeson’s three Othellos and a sound Page 2 Impact case study (REF3b) installation) was invited to become a temporary exhibition at Shakespeare’s Globe Exhibition for two months (4 January– 28 February 2010). The Globe Exhibition (rated one of the top 10 London visitor attractions: London Pass Scheme) receives 300,000 visitors annually; the Robeson exhibit was seen by an estimated 40,000 people. Howard presented the exhibition to the Shakespeare Theatres of America Association (January 2010), a forum for artistic, managerial and educational leadership involving over 100 US and Canadian theatres, and addressed the practitioners’ Inclusion Committee. As a result, he was invited to deliver the keynote paper to the Inaugural Meeting of the Shakespeare Theatre Association (the SAA re-launched as an international